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RoyGBiv wrote:

TxSheepdog wrote:I'd love to hear how the Defender works out. I've been eyeing one,

+1

And congrats on the new addition.!

Thanks.

Since buying this Sunday afternoon, I have read the manual, dissasembeled and reassembled it, and done some dry firing (with snap caps) to get a better feel for the trigger. I haven't had a chance to get to the range, but hope to do that after work tomorrow.

The gun is very nice looking. It also has a good feel in my hand. The grip is the perfect size for concealed carry. I can just get all of my fingers on the grip, so no wasted length. Plus the 7+1 capacity in a .45 is nice.

The take down was easy. The reassembly was challenging and took me over an hour. I had to re-read the manual several times to understand exactly what it was saying. The manual covers various models that all have different instructions, so you need to follow the steps with a "c" after them meaning that step 1 (a,b) is not applicable to this gun, but does apply to the models in the "a" and "b" categories. At least I think that's how it's written. Then again, I am new to 1911's, so this is probably user error. At any rate, I think I understand it now and it should be easier.

I plan to dissasemble it again tonight, clean and lube it per the manual, and then take it to the range tomorrow. I'll keep you posted on how it runs.

After reading this thread I decided to stop in at my local Academy today during lunch.
I, too, am interested in the Colt Defender and wanted to put my hands on one...

Alas.... My local store did not carry this model...

I went to the gunstore today as well!

Now I've got to start buying 9mm to feed this dang Keltec Sub2k that followed me home like a puppy....

The Colt Defender is in short supply. The store where I got it did a search and could not find any other stores with one in stock. I got mine at the Academy on I-10 and Hwy 99 out in Katy.

TxSheepdog wrote:I'd love to hear how the Defender works out. I've been eyeing one, but the sticker price is a no go right now. I hear a lot of people bad mouth the 3.5 inch guns, but not many people share any positive feedback.

Someone just listed one for sale on this site for $700. That's a pretty big discount from the $974 (with tax) that I paid.

Katygunnut wrote:The Colt Defender is in short supply. The store where I got it did a search and could not find any other stores with one in stock. I got mine at the Academy on I-10 and Hwy 99 out in Katy.

I saw that one there a couple of times over the last two weeks. I found myself surprised that Academy was carrying Colt.

I got my Defender from AJC Sports at a Ft. Worth gun show in July for $800. At last weeks Dallas show, they had them for well under $800 (both .45 and 9mm). I've bought several guns from them at shows, and always got a very low price. Their store and web prices are significantly higher though.

TxSheepdog wrote:

74novaman wrote:My 3.5 rock island has been running great. I had a magazine issue initially but once I fixed that zero problems. I do think they're (the shorter guns in general) more suceptible to limp wristing malfunctions

You know I could have sworn that I saw a 3.5" RIA for sale somewhere, but when I went to the RIA website, they only went to Commander sized. Nothing like a defender. I want a short barrel, but full sized grips for 7+1 capacity, plus I have huge hands.

This may be what you're looking for.

The grip is the part that most affects concealability, so if you can carry a full size grip, you're better off going with a 4 - 5 inch barrel. Kimber makes a great line of four inch guns, as well as the full size ones.